Sweet baby Cale....

The title of this post is a bit of a misnomer.  You aren't much of a baby anymore at all.  You are big, and getting bigger everyday.  I can hardly believe you were the littlest of all my babies!
I love that you want to sleep with your mommy and daddy, and that we make you feel safe.
I love that you defend your sisters, even if it means smacking another kid and us having to tell you not to do that.
I love that you know so much about dinosaurs, airplanes, bugs, etc.  Your curiosity and love of learning are inspiring to me!
I love your little gruff voice.  I love that people we know hear us coming in stores from three aisles away and know it's you.
I love that you love your "Zoolie" bear and still want to sleep with it at night.  I love that his little tail is about to fall off because it comforts you to rub his tail at night.
I love that you carry around random bags of junk.  Last night, you went to sleep with a ziploc bag next to you.  In it, there was:  an airplane, a water gun, a plastic plate, a toy ostrich, some matchbox cars, a magnet off my refrigerator, a few plastic dinosaurs, and some silly band bracelets...  I love how you love these little treasures!!
I love how much you love school, and that your teachers think you are smart and adorable.
I love your joy of living, and how amazed you are at discovering something new.
I love when your hair is sweaty in the back from running around outside.
I love how you want to "make a pallet" on the couch every night at bedtime because you think that will stall you from having to actually go to bed.
I love that you play so sweetly with your sisters (okay, SISTER....at least you're gentle with the baby!) but then play so rough with Daddy.  You already know how to treat little girls.
I love that you are funny.  You say things that make me laugh out loud, and you're THREE.  There are adults (lots of them) less funny than you!
I love that you can't ever manage to put underwear on facing forward.
I love that you have changed your mind two hundred times about what to be for Halloween.
I love how you run to hug me when I come to pick you up from school...and that your face is so full of joy that I am there to get you.
I love that you are kind, and that you are rule follower like Daddy.  (Thank God!)
I love that you won't let me wash off your week old temporary tattoo.
I love that you have empathy for people you see without homes or food.  I love that you want them to come "live with us".
I love that you are respectful, and want to do the right thing.
I love that you make me open every candle at the store so that you can smell them.
I love that you try to open the door for me everywhere you go, even though the most of the doors are too heavy for you to manage.
I love that you want me to hold you and carry you, even though you are HANDS DOWN the heaviest kid in our family.  I cherish being able to hold your heavy little self, because some day those little arms and shoulders will dwarf mine, and you will be so much bigger than me.  When that time comes, I know I will wish you were tiny again, and asking me to pick you up in a parking lot because you scared that an airplane is flying overhead.
You are my sweet boy, and I can't wait to see what kind of "big boy" you'll become....just don't become one too quickly...
Mommy

My little princess....

She is now into all things "girly"...princesses, tutus, pink, purple....and LIP GLOSS.  Wasn't I supposed to have a few more years of cluelessness in this department??

This angelic baby dug in her mommy's purse while she was driving, and took it upon herself to apply LONG LAST LIP STAIN to her own self.  Sigh.  You can tell her application skills need some work, but at least she picked a color that coordinated with her outfit.

Things I am grateful for at 8:43 p.m. on a Thursday

1.  Johnson and Johnson's new "Sweet Melon" baby wash...usually I want my babies to smell like lavendar, but I couldn't help getting this one...it smells like fresh peaches...yummmmmmm......the only problem is, I "forgot" to put it in their bathtub.  I have been testing it out on myself for two weeks.
2. "Visual Poetry".....a new, inspiring photography book I am reading.
3.  Livi's huge cheeks (facial, not hiney)  I want to smoosh them all day.
4.  The fact that my kids want to give their piggie bank to the guy who begs for money on the corner of Hildebrand and 281.  Today Hayden asked if he could come live with us.
5. Cooler weather!!
6.  Girlfriends that make me laugh, and laugh at me.
7.  Green enchiladas from Paloma Blanca.
8.  The new paint pens I bought today at Hobby Lobby....I love the way they smell....along with the smell of gasoline, rubber cement, new tires, tar, white out...I know, I sound like a weirdo junkie; or more like a "smellie"....I don't huff paint, I promise.
9.  Gray's Anatomy starting tonight!!
10.  The new chick-fil-a that's going in 1.4 minutes from my house.

What a beautiful mess....

This life of ours....sigh.  It's crazy, I know.  It's not for the faint of heart.  In one day around here, you might experience:

A completely orange baby

Little girls in random states of princess/cheerleader/ice cream server costume

Rooms torn apart by little boys who don't want to take a nap.

(Please note the pillows strewn all over the floor, the lamp laying in his bed, the blinds pulled up all wonky, the lamp shade on the floor....sigh.)

Or you might even run into a perfect, angelic baby that thinks it's funny that mommy wants her to walk and she would rather crawl.  

Yes, a day around here is pretty wild....but I wouldn't trade it for anything. 

Because I have nothing BETTER to do with my time...

I dressed the kids all up, and took them to play "picture taking" on Friday....I am on the hunt for the ever elusive "Good-picture-of-all-three-of-my-kids" photo.  I have heard it is possible, but for now it remains un-achieved.
For some reason, the two big ones have a fascination with staring at the GROUND while I am taking their picture, rather than the lens of my camera.  The baby one makes adorable faces, but without a "clapper" standing behind me to get her attention, she only looks at me for four tenths of a second before she crawls off to put a stick or an acorn in her mouth.
This shoot was pure torture.  My right foot got eaten alive by fire ants in a field, the two big ones wouldn't cooperate, and Livi was mad that I didn't let her crawl off onto the main road.  I was SURE I didn't get one single cute picture, but what do you know?  Taking a ton of pictures pays off!  There were actually a few cute ones in the bunch....

This morning, we received the best gift ever....news that our sweet baby was perfectly healthy.  For those of you who are just hearing about this ordeal, let me explain.  Here is the really, really short version:  pediatrician heard a murmur, referred to a pediatric cardiologist, cardiologist ordered an MRI because they could hear the murmur through her fontanelle, which sometimes indicates something called an AVM (basically an aneurysm)  They scheduled us yesterday for the MRI, which went well.  Watching her be sedated was the most horrible thing I have ever seen, but she dealt very well with anesthesia.  We didn't expect to hear any news for two or three days, but a friend who is a radiologist called and had the results read to him so that he could tell us quickly.  (Thank you again, Adam!!)

My heart is so full this evening.....of gratitude....of happiness that she will be healthy, live a long life, be able to carry her own babies some day.  I am grateful that she will be able to do anything and be anything she wants to be.....In the past few weeks, I have been plagued with some dark thoughts, and I am relieved that they are gone for good.  I am OVERWHELMED at the love and kindness offered to us by our amazing group of family and friends.....the support we felt was so palpable....
This whole thing is a testament to God's sovereignty, and to the fact that He wants us to come to Him in times of need....nothing has made me pray harder!!  
Yesterday, after I watched three grown adults hold my tiny girl down and smash a mask onto her face to put her to sleep, I broke down in the hall....it was the most scared and helpless I have ever felt in my entire life....Shawn and I headed to the elevator to make our way to the waiting room.  As the elevator doors opened up on the second floor, my phone was suddenly "in area" for a moment and I got some reception.  For about four straight minutes, my phone pinged out of control as all the texts from my precious friends started coming in.....I don't think for one minute that THAT was an accident.....God knew that I needed love and support at JUST that moment, and he delivered it.  It was supernatural.
Again, thank you to all of you for your texts, emails, phone calls, prayers, meals, etc.  It isn't until times like this when you REALLY realize the strength of your friendships.....
We are praising God tonight in this house....and eating some yummy Chinese food that Courtney brought over.  :)

Kiddie Park

We have been wanting to take the babies to visit Kiddie Park for awhile....ever since the temperature went below 100, but especially since they fixed it up and it doesn't look like you need a tetanus shot just to drive by it.  It's actually pretty cute!  Shawn and I remember it differently from our childhood....actually, let me rephrase that.  Shawn can't remember any of the rides at all, only that there used to be a roller coaster.  I remember it being Disney World, so both of our recollections are a little skewed.
We hesitated at paying for the "unlimited" wrist bands for them, because we weren't sure if they would actually ride all the rides or just stand in front of them screaming.  We decided to just go for it, and hope for the best, and it worked!  They LOVED it, and had to ride everything twice.  Their favorite were the "space ships" that go around in a circle (fast) and rise up and down.  On this one, you can have a parent ride with you, so I rode twice with Cale and twice with Hayden.  Neither kid really understands why Daddy won't ride....Cale kept trying to coax him with things we say to try to make HIM do things.  "Daddy, you will like it, I promise!"  and "Trust me, you won't be scared of it."  Three year olds are too little to understand "inner ear problem" and the ensuing vomiting that would surely occur at Kiddie Park if Daddy were to go in a circle more than once.
Even baby Livi got in on a ride.  We thought she was too little, but right before closing, one of the ride operators asked if we wanted to give Livi a ride....she didn't have a wristband, but they let her on anyway.  Daddy strapped her into a little airplane, and she smiled so big everytime she went past us.  Next time we go, Livi will definitely get a wrist band, too!  She had a great time.

Our first "school year" has begun.....

Meet the teacher was an event in itself.  Mommy got teary eyed upon walking in the classroom.  Bub and Sis ran straight for the toys and proceeded to make a mess.  Their teachers seem really sweet.  The twins have one of their best friends Davis in their class....all signs are pointing in a great direction....until Sissy got the message from Mommy that meet the teacher was almost over and we needed to pick up the toys.  That did NOT go over well.  She was upset....then Bubby wouldn't get out of the chair she wanted to sit in, so she started whaling on him.  I feel sorry for him, because she really wanted to whale on ME, but knew that was out of the question so he was the nearest target.  Mommy tried to stop the whaling and the wailing, but Sissy pulled out the old "detach-all-my-bones-and-turn-myself-into-a-human-jello-pile" trick.  Jello pile treated us all to high pitched screeching that can only be compared to that a pterodactyl might have make during it's death rattle.
With that fabulous introduction to school, it came as a pretty big surprise that the first day went so amazingly.  They both ran right in, and didn't want to even stop and pose at the door for nerdy picture taking mommy.  There was no prolonged goodbye....I think Sis might have hollered "Bye Pipkin!" at Livi, but I didn't even get a nod.  Oh well....I'll take that ANYDAY over separation anxiety.
They have now gone two days and they LOVE it.  I've been informed that they had popcorn and fruit for snack, Sis has two new friends Abby and Maggie, Bub plays with a little boy named Anton, and there was some drama on the playground today that involved a "big, mean girl" taking away an orange car.

On the way into "meet the teacher"...

So excited for Davis to be in our class!

Posing with new school tote bags.  Could they look more irritated with me?

First day of school!

Gymnastics: The Real Deal

Up to this point, our "gymnastics" experience has been open gym...you know, running amok all over the gym at our own discretion.  Last week, that all changed.  We started REAL gymnastics; having an actual coach and having to follow directions.
All things considered, I think we are doing well.  This is the first organized activity they have done, and they are loving it so far.  We are having a little issue with following the coach, but I blame their infantile attention spans.  They are good for the first 45 minutes of the 50 minute class, and then the last five minutes are like fun time at the insane asylum.  We have gone twice, and mommy is really hoping for them to settle into the routine at class number three.  I don't want to harp on them after class, because I want them to love it.  Then again, they have to listen and not run off whenever they get a whim either.  I'm trying to balance out the direction with the "good jobs!" and "wasn't that fun??"

Labor Day weekend

This holiday, we were some busy fools.  We started off the weekend with open house for the twins' school (more info on that later...you're going to want to stay tuned....this makes for a good story).  Friday night we tried to leave town to visit the Maziurs in Houston...."tried" being the operative word, considering it took us two hours to drop our dogs off at my mom and dad's and get out of town to Seguin.  TWO HOURS.  Really.  Where all these people are coming from eludes me.  Despite the fact that we didn't roll into Houston until 9:30 at night, our babies were surprisingly happy.  Everyone went to bed easily, even though they were in "new" beds for the night.
Saturday morning was spent at the Maziur's neighborhood pool, which gives a waterpark a run for it's money.  It was amazing!  Even more amazing was the fact that we basically had the whole pool to ourselves.  Cale loved the little splash park, and Sissy went down a GIANT twisty slide about forty times.  She has NO fear at all....a fact that has me quaking in my boots as far as high school is concerned.  Cale was helped down the slide (forced) by Shawn....I knew exactly what had happened when I heard the wailing get louder as he came down the slide to where I was waiting in the pool at the bottom.  The first thing he said?  "I am never EVER doing that again."  Later, Pamela asked if he wanted to slide again and he answered with an emphatic "No, thank you."  (At least he was polite)
After lunch at the pool, we had naptime/football watching time and then dinner at home.  We did lots of talking and laughing, and staying up too late.  Our kiddos are officially in love with each other, and got along SO well.  Cale kept referring to Matt as "my brother", which made me feel more than a little sad about shutting down my uterus for business.  Lots of love to the Maziurs for a FUN weekend!!!   To prove how much fun we had, here are some pictures I pilfered off their blog.

Sunday, we actually had enough energy in us to hit the Roberts' pool party in the afternoon.....the babies swam and swam, and we LOVED the company...some of my favorites!  It was actually relaxing, despite the fact that there might have been 45 kids there.  The Roberts set up a giant inflatable thing about thirty feet tall....the kids all had a blast, and even better, it was set up away from the "mommies-having-their-cocktails-area".  I proved once again what a lightweight I was, and how bad my tolerance level is since having babies.  Two drinks in I was laughing at everything and only marginally supervising my children.

The baby is already a little fish in training, and would crawl straight into the drink if you let her.  She is either fearless, clueless, or (most likely) a little bit of both.
The Roberts are always good for a great time.....we were pruney and tired when we left....and would have stayed later if it weren't for a tired baby.  Such a fun weekend!!

Lasagna night

This post is for no other reason than to post adorable pictures of my children with spaghetti sauce on their faces.

Yeah for family dinner, and double yeah for a meal that all five people in our house love to eat!